Automobile-fender.



F.v G. POTHIER. AUTOMOBILE FENDER.

`APPLICAT|ON FILED APR. 7, 1914.

Patented June 8, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

i /7THI :M f ya lA 1 9 IVI Patentedhme 8, 915i 2 sHEETs-sHEU STATESPATENT oEEioE.

lEEEDEaIcKe. PvoTiiIEE., oEELMmA, NEW YORK.

AUTOMOBILE-FENDER.

To all whom it may concern:

, Beit known that'l, FREDERICK G. Po'rHIEn, ajciti'zen of the UnitedStates. residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung and State ofNewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Fenders',of which the following is a specification.V j

'lhe primary purpose of this invention is the `provision of a safetyappliance for vehicles-generally .and automobiles in particular, to4prevent serious injury to a pedestrian whov may be` struck by thevehicle or machine when in motion.

The; invention .has for its object a fender which yis so arranged as totrip a pedestrian when strucklsoas` to throw the person upon a netwhereby'such person is lifted clearof the ground 'and carried along withthe vehi- 'Jcle,.the1 eby preventing any possibility of the personlgetting beneath the wheels or .vehicle so as to be injured as a resultof the collision. f

` A further purpose of theA invention is the provision-cfa fender whichnormally ocy cupies a, position so as not to extend in front of thevehicle so as to oiier an obstruction or detract from the appearance ofthe vehicle and which lfender is released by-impact with an object tocause such object to be lifted and thrown upon the fender to be carriedthereby along with the vehicle. l The invention also provides a fenderwhich is normally held ina given positionl by restraining means whichare adapted to 'be released by the force of impact between the fenderandan object in the event of a collision,` and. springs for moving thefender to trip the person whereby the object struck is lifted and:carried along with the vehicle.

The invention also further provides a. fender which" may be readilyfitted to any ordinary make of machine or'motor vehicle so as to preventa serious accident, should a' person be struck by the machine when inmotion. j v Y The invention tures, Adetails 'of construction andcombmation of parts, which hereinafter will be more particularly 'setforth,

illustrated and claimed.

In the drawings hereto attached z-Figjure 1 is a front view of a motorVvehicle of the automobile type provided with a fender embodyingtheinvention. F1g.,2 1s av side view, partly in section, the full linesshowconsists of the novel feaing the normal position of the' fender andthe dotted'lines the position assumed by the fender when released bystriking an object. Fig. 3 is a front view of the guide and part of thefront axle to which ysuch guide is att-ached. Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection of the guide and axle on the line -l--i of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is adetail perspective view of one of t-he brackets for attaching the fenderto a side' ba'r of the machine f rame. Fig. 64 is a sectional'A detailon the line 6--6 ofFig. 2, looking upward' as lindlca-ted by the arrow.Fig. 7 yis a detail section'of the impact bar on the line 7- 7 of Fig.1, and Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.. gClorresponding and like parts are referred to 1n the followingdescription, and indicated in all the views of the drawing, by

the same reference characters.

The fender comprises amain body portion or net and sides or wheelguards, said fender being pivotally supported andnormally occupying aposition so as not to extend too far in advance of the vehicle, but

which fender, when struck, is released by the bars or `memberscomprising such frame.

As shown most clearly in Fig.- 1, the frame comprises a lower bar 1, anupper bar 2 and side bars 3. The lower bar 1, by reason ofits functiomisdesignated as an impact bar, since in the event of a collision it comesin contact with the object and receives the force `of the impact. Thisimpact bar 1 curves throughout its length and extends beyond the treadof the wheels and terminates in .enlarged ends 4which give a,

finished appearance to the bar and prevent injury to an object coming incontact ywith such evtremities.` lThe upper bar 2 is preferably straightand is much shorter than the impact bar and terminates within the treadofthe wheel. The side bars .3 are of lSpecication of Letters Patent. iPatnted Jungs, 1915- Application led April 7, 1914. Serial No, 830,238.

similar formation, and comprise upper par-- alle]v portions and lowerflared portions which are secured in any manner to the en d portions ofthey impact bar 1. The lllng 1s of Va. nature topi-event injury to theperson,

and preferably consists of straps, tapes,

cords or like vflexible connections 4, which are properly spaced and aresecured at their ends to the side bars 3. The fender is arranged so asnormally to occupy z n upright position, inclining slightly toward, therear at its upper end, thereby throwing the lower portion forward andbringing the impact bars The guards 5 are located opposite the anglesformed between the upper and4 lower portions of the side bars 3.

To prevent injurlous contact of the person with the bars forming membersof the fender, buffers 6 are secured to the several bars, such buffersbeing preferably of rubber or other yieldable material, and secured ltothe bars by means of bolts or like fastenings 7, the heads of which are.concealed within the material forming such buffers to preventinjuriouscontact with the person. It has been found not to be necessarytoprovide the side bars 3 with buffers because the straps or likefilling 4L answer the purpose to receive the forceof the blow andthereby prevent injury to the person coming in contact with suchsidebars.

rEhe fender is pivotally connected to the` neled upon their inner facesto embrace op posite sides of the bars 9 and front springs 13; Thebrackets 8 are clipped or otherwise secured by means of the-uppermembers 11 to the side bars 9. The side bars 3 0f the fender passbetween'the lugs 10 and are mounted upon pivot fastenings 14 which passtransversely through openings formed in the lugs 10. Washers 15 arelocated between the lugs 10 and side bars 3 to prevent rattle and play,such washers being preferably of rubber or other like material. Helicalcontractile springs 16 are interposed between the upper portion of thefender and the frame of the vehicle and when released move the fenderinto the position indicated by dotted'lines in Fig. 2.l

When the fender is in the position indicated by full lines in Fig. 2,the springs 16 `are under tension, the fender being normally held inupright position by restraining means which, when tripped by v the,'.i.orce of impact between the fender and -an object when collisionoccurs, permits the springs 1G to come into play to move the fender fromthe full line position of Fig.`2 to the dotted line position, with theresult that the, object struck is lifted from the ground and.

-the rod 17 and is adapted to operate in the guide way 21 and is adaptedtoengage the stop 19 near the upper end of such guide way so as .to holdthe fender in normal position, as indicated by the full lines in Fig. 2.

A spring 23 arranged within the guide way 21, which is secured at itslower end to the guide 18, exerts a pressure upon the head 22 tonormally-hold the same in engagement with the stop 19, therebypreventing displacement of such head by shock or vibration incident tothe usual movement of the vehicle.

The trip for disengaging the head 22 from the stop 19 consists of a rod24, which is pivoted at its lower end to the impact bar 1, and has itsupper end arranged to'operate in an opening 25 formedin the' front sideof the guide 18 and in position to engage the head 22. When the impactbar 1 strikes an object, the rod 24 moves rearward and disengages thehead 22 from the stop 19, whereupon the'springs 16 come into play anddraw the upper portion of the fender downward and rearward, therebylifting the lower portion of the fender, which is thrown upward andforward. In the event'of the object being a person, such person istripped and thrown upon' the fender and is carried along thereby withthe vehicle. When the person is tripped, vhe or she is at the same timelifted from the ground, thereby preventing any injury resulting fromjamming the person between any part of the vehicle and the surface overwhich such vehicle may be moving. 1-

Fromthe foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanyingI drawing, the advantages ofthe construction and of themethod of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the artto which the "invention appertains, and while I, have described theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the device whichl now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, l desire to have itunderstood that ist) the device shown is merely illustrative, and thatsuch changes :may be made when desired as are Within the scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention,I What is claimed as new is :-l-

1. In combination, a pivotally mounted fender normally arranged tooccupy an upright position, spring means for moving the fender from anormal position when released, restraining means for the fenderincluding a guide having a stop and a rod, and a trip actuated by impactof the fender with an object to release the rod Jfrom the said stop,whereby the spring means are adapted to come into play.

In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, spring means actuating snchfender, a guide having a stop, a rod connected with the fender andadapted to engage such stop to normally hold the fender in givenposition against the action of the spring means and a trip effectingrelease of the rod from the stop.

3. In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, spring means actuatingsuch fender, a guide having a stop, a rod connected with the ltender andadapted to engage such stop and a trip rod connected With the fender andadapted to effect release oir' the first mentioned rod from the stop.

4f. In combination, brackets, a fender pivotally connected to suchbrackets, spring means cooperating With the fender, a guide having astop, a rod connected with the4 fender and adapted to engage such stopand a trip rod connected with the fender and adapted to eiect therelease of the first inentioned rod from the stop.

5. ,In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, spring means actuatingsuch fender, a guide having a stop, a. rod connected with the fender andadapted to engage such stop to normally hold the fender in givenposition against the action of the spring means, means for retaining therod in contact with said stop, and a trip effecting release of the rodfrom the stop.

6. In combination, a pivotally 'mounted Jfender, spring means actuatingsuch fender, a guide having a stop, a rod connected with the fender andadapted to engage such stop to normally hold the fender in givenposition against the action of the spring, and means arrangedlongitudinally of the guide and having its free terminal abuttingagainst the rod `for. retaining the lattenin contact with said stop, anda trip effecting release of the rod from the stop.

7. In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, spring means actuatingsuch fender, a guide having a stop, a rod connected with the fender andadapted to engage such stop to normally hold the fender in given posi-`tion against the action of the spring means,

means for retaining the rod in contact with A said stop, said last namedmeans preventing the displacement of the rod from said stop by theshocks or vibration of the vehicle, and a trip effecting release of therod from the stop.

8. In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, means actuating suchfender, a guide having a guide-Way, a stop arranged Within 'theguide-Way of the guide, a rod connected with1 the fender and adapted toengage such stop to normally hold the fender in given position againstthe action of the first mentioned means, means disposed Within .the

guide-Way of the guide for retaining the rod in contact With said stop,and a trip effecting release of the rod from the stop.

9. In combination, a pivotally mounted fender, means actuating suchfender, a guide' having a. guide-Way, a stop arranged Within theguide-Way of the guide', a rod connected vwith the fender and adapted toengage such rnnnnnicn s. rofrnmn.

Witnesses:

EDWARD J. PoTHmR, FRED W. FREDENBURG.

